Power
Applying Cognitive Theory in Curriculum
JASON MEHNER
JASON MEHNER, Yahoo Contributor Network
Jul 6, 2009 "Share your voice on Yahoo websites. Start Here."
MORE:Jean PiagetLearning TheoryPiagetHoward GardnerAssimilation
FlagPost a comment
With the creation of any curriculum, much planning and preparation is required. The administrators and teachers must work together to develop a plan that is in the best interest of the student, as well as being able to fulfill any requirements that is put in place by the state. Designing a curriculum can be done by means of placing any selected learning style and theory into practice. One of those theories that have been selected many times over the years is Jean Piaget's Cognitive Theory.
Cognitive Theory first came to the forefront through the work of researcher Jean Piaget. In his work, Piaget stated that knowledge is gained primarily by the child growing up; maturation plays the main factor in knowledge acquisition (Atherton, 2009). According to Piaget, there were two main functions to the cognitive theory: organization and adaptation (Kristinsdottir, 2008). Organization refers to the fact that all cognitive structures are related and any new information must be fit in to an existing system (Kristinsdottir, 2008). In contrast, adaptation is the way an individual tries to fit into an existing system in order to survive. Within adaptation there are two more parts: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process of understanding new knowledge based on knowledge that has been previously learned. Accommodation is a process when new information is too complex for the current structure. In this case, the cognitive structure must change in order to accommodate the new information (Kristinsdottir, 2008). Accommodation and assimilation go hand in hand; you cannot have one without the other. The process of assimilation would be the reason that a student would have to accommodate their own cognitive process in order to
JASON MEHNER
JASON MEHNER, Yahoo Contributor Network
Jul 6, 2009 "Share your voice on Yahoo websites. Start Here."
MORE:Jean PiagetLearning TheoryPiagetHoward GardnerAssimilation
FlagPost a comment
With the creation of any curriculum, much planning and preparation is required. The administrators and teachers must work together to develop a plan that is in the best interest of the student, as well as being able to fulfill any requirements that is put in place by the state. Designing a curriculum can be done by means of placing any selected learning style and theory into practice. One of those theories that have been selected many times over the years is Jean Piaget's Cognitive Theory.
Cognitive Theory first came to the forefront through the work of researcher Jean Piaget. In his work, Piaget stated that knowledge is gained primarily by the child growing up; maturation plays the main factor in knowledge acquisition (Atherton, 2009). According to Piaget, there were two main functions to the cognitive theory: organization and adaptation (Kristinsdottir, 2008). Organization refers to the fact that all cognitive structures are related and any new information must be fit in to an existing system (Kristinsdottir, 2008). In contrast, adaptation is the way an individual tries to fit into an existing system in order to survive. Within adaptation there are two more parts: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process of understanding new knowledge based on knowledge that has been previously learned. Accommodation is a process when new information is too complex for the current structure. In this case, the cognitive structure must change in order to accommodate the new information (Kristinsdottir, 2008). Accommodation and assimilation go hand in hand; you cannot have one without the other. The process of assimilation would be the reason that a student would have to accommodate their own cognitive process in order to